Hauling Mussels

ID: 2250 ~ Source: Norbert Brown Collection, Knox County Public Library ~ Date: 1908
This file appears in: Pearl City
Hauling Mussels

For a while, Vincennes became the center of the “Pearl Rush.” Pearl buyers would travel from other countries to Vincennes to purchase the highly sought-after pearls. This postcard shows the huge number of mussel shells pulled from the Wabash River.

This file appears in: Pearl City

By Knox County Public Library
The name “Pearl City” originated sometime between 1900 and the early 1930s, when the mussel fishing industry here sparked a “pearl rush.” This stretch of the Wabash River was once filled with people, mostly squatters, who lived in tents, shanties,…